the impact of social media - university of hong...
TRANSCRIPT
Updated: May 2018
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THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA Conducting Independent Enquiry About Social Media
Student pack
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Introduction sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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In this pack
S-1. What is the Structured Enquiry Approach?
S-2. Part A: What are the issues I should focus my research on?
S-3. Part B: What concepts and methods are relevant to your IES?
S-4. Part C: What areas should I explain in detail for my enquiry issue?
S-5. Part D: How do I formulate an argument?
S-6. Use of footnotes and compilation of bibliography
S-7. Share your IES findings with UK students!
How will this be useful for me?
You’ll get step-by-step guidance on how to carry out
an independent enquiry study (IES) on the topic of
social media for your school based assessment in
Liberal Studies.
You’ll be able to understand research methods better
and choose the most suitable one for your enquiry.
You’ll see how university researchers organize their
research and research findings and be able to
follow their example.
You’ll have a deeper understanding of social media.
You’ll have the opportunity to share your IES findings
with students in the UK and hear about their
research findings.
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Structured Enquiry Approach S-1 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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The Independent Enquiry Study is a school based assessment part of HKDSE Liberal Studies. It makes up 20% of your final exam mark. You will need to carry out an enquiry study on your own as well as submitting a report of not more than 4,5000 words1. You may write about any issues related to the six modules of the Liberal Studies Curriculum or issues related to media, education, religion, sports, art or Information and Communication Technology.
The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority adopts the Structured Enquiry
Approach to provide a structural framework for students to organize their IES
reports. Each report should comprise the following four parts:
Part A: Problem Definition
Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge / Facts / Data
Part C: In-depth Explanation of the Issue
Part D: Judgement and Justification
This student pack will use examples from real-life social media
research conducted at universities to help you to complete the
four parts step by step.
1 Some schools adopt non-written assessment. You can present your ideas by making a video, PowerPoint presentation, etc. In that case, you only need to submit a report of maximally 1,000 words.
S-1. What is the Structured Enquiry Approach?
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part A: Problem Definition S-2 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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1. Getting you thinking
Why are you interested in studying social media?
Why do you think that social media is significant to research on?
Watch the video below to see what the researcher of the Why We Post
project says.
“What is significance of a study of social media?”
https://sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media/v/significance
Why does the researcher think that impact of social media is
worthwhile to study?
The research team of the Why We Post project studied the impact of social media, specifically focusing on:
Education and young people
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/2-social-media-is-
education
Work and commerce
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/why-we-
post/discoveries/9-social-media-promoted-social-commerce-not-all-
commerce
S-2. Part A: What are the issues I should focus my research on?
I will complete S-2 Part A by…
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part A: Problem Definition S-2 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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Gender relations
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/12-social-media-can-
have-a-profound-impact-on-gender-relations-sometimes-through-using-
fake-accounts
Inequality
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/4-equality-online-
doesnt-mean-equality-offline
Political participation
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/6-public-social-media-
is-conservative
Individualism
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/1-social-media-is-not-
making-us-more-individualistic/
Culture
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/why-we-
post/discoveries/8-social-media-is-not-making-the-world-more-
homogenous
Communication
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/why-we-
post/discoveries/7-we-used-to-just-talk-now-we-talk-photos
Privacy 1
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/15-we-tend-to-
assume-social-media-is-a-threat-to-privacy-but-sometimes-is-can-
increase-privacy
Privacy 2
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/10-social-media-has-
created-new-spaces-for-groups-between-the-public-and-private
Which of the above themes interests you the most? Why? Why is it socially significant?
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part A: Problem Definition S-2 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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2. Choosing a controversial issue
Apart from choosing a topic which interests you, you also need to choose something
which is controversial about social media. This is because the issue you select for
your enquiry should allow you to explore different people’s views. This should lead
ultimately to you explaining and justifying your own stance in these debates. Take
the following extract as an example:
Extract 1
There is considerable uncertainty and anxiety over the broader impact of social
media on young people’s education and welfare. There are those who believe that
social media is destroying the educational system and will lead to a dramatic fall
in grades, which can only be solved by banning access to phones and other
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs.) Others see social media as
potentially re-energising the experience of education and believe that, by forcing
formal education to embrace new forms of informal and interactive learning, the
use of such technologies will inevitably benefit all concerned. … Instead we feel
it important to pay more attention to how social media is reshaping the key
relationships relevant to education: those of student-student, teacher-student
and teacher-parent.
- Adapted from “How the World Changed Social Media” Chapter 5 p. 70
What controversial issues does the researcher address in this extract?
Whose views on the impact of social media on education are discussed in the extract?
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Are there any other groups whose views might also be important to consider, that
are not mentioned in this extract? Give reasons for your answer.
Go to the Why We Post website http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries
to find out what other controversies about social media are discussed in the
project.
Can you think of any other debates about social media which are not discussed by
the researchers?
Which controversy(ies) would you like to discuss in your Independent Enquiry Study?
Why?
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Part A: Problem Definition S-2 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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3. Choosing focus questions
After choosing your topic and the debates, you should design focus questions.
Focus questions help you understand what data you will need to collect, so that in
Part D you can put forward a particular view or argument based on evidence. For
example, to study the impact of social media on young people’s education, the
researchers from the Why We Post project collect data to answer the following
questions:
How do teachers develop school policy to regulate the use of social
media in school?
How do teachers and students use social media?
How useful do parents from various socio-economic classes see social
media in terms of their children’s formal and informal education?
What focus questions do you plan to ask?
The researchers of the Why We Post project carry out their studies in nine places:
Brazil, Chile, North China, South China, England, India, Italy, Trinidad and Turkey.
They studied people’s online and offline life.
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Where do you plan to carry out your study? Why?
To sum up Part A: Problem Definition What is your enquiry issue and major enquiry question?
Why is your study significant? Who might the results be useful for and why? Could
your results be used to create social policy? If so, how?
What controversy(ies) are you going to discuss in your IES?
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Part A: Problem Definition S-2 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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What do you aim to achieve?
What focus questions do you ask?
Who do you want to study?
Where would you base your research and why?
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
S-3 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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1. Choosing the key concepts relevant to your enquiry
In Part B you have to define the key concepts relevant to your enquiry question and
focus questions clearly, and explain how you are going to apply them in your
analysis.
What is a concept?
A “key concept” speaks about an important idea that a number of
different people, normally experts, might agree on. Not everyone will
agree on a particular concept, though, and different people may
suggest different understandings of a key concept.
For example:
Gender is biological. Men and
women have different bodies
from birth.
I disagree, gender is social. We
learn how to act like a man or a
woman as we grow up.
S-3. Part B: What concepts and methods are relevant to your IES?
I will complete S-3 Part B by…
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
S-3 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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Now we’ll look at a different key concept – social media – because different
experts have different ideas on what social media actually is.
Use the different types of social media shown here and make notes on the ways each
provides new or different ways of communicating with others.
Snapchat
What do you think social media is? Do you find it difficult to define social media?
Why?
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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Read the following extract to see how social media is defined in the Why We Post
project and why it is defined in that way.
Extract 2
Many previous studies of social media emphasise specific platforms…. It is clearly
important to understand Twitter, for example, as a platform: the company that
owns it, the way it works and the very idea of social media based on messages
that must remain below 140 characters. …
- Adapted from “How the World Changed Social Media” Chapter 1 p. 1
Social media should not be seen primarily as the platforms upon which people
post, but rather as the contents [e.g. memes, photos, tweets etc.] that are posted
on these platforms. These contents vary considerably from region to region, which
is why comparative study is necessary…. Social media is today a place within which
we socialize, not just a means of communication.
- Adapted from “How the World Changed Social Media” Summary of
Contents p. x
How do the researchers of the Why We Post Project define social media?
How is their definition different from the definition of previous studies?
Why do they define social media in ways different from other researchers?
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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2. Operationalising key concepts
Operationalisation is to make abstract concepts measurable so they are concrete
enough to observe. You have to explain how you operationalise the key concepts in
your definition.
How do you operationalise a concept?
For example, we may apply the idea that gender is social to a setting
such as shopping for clothes in a number of ways:
• To test whether the theory is correct.
• To examine how we might look at clothing shopping differently
using this idea.
Example: How do we operationalise gender?
Gender is biological Gender is social
Gender is defined by one’s sex Gender is defined by one’s self-
organ and physical sexual identity and learned behaviour of how
characteristics. to be a man or a woman. For example,
a man wears trousers and a woman
and a woman wears a dress.
According to Extract 2, how do researchers make social media measurable and
observable based on different definitions?
Social media as platform Social media as content, as a place for people to socialise
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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To sum up… What do you think is the best way to define social media in your IES?
How is your definition of social media useful to your analysis?
How would you operationalise (to make measurable) the concept social media?
What are the other key concepts in your enquiry question and focus questions?
How would you define, operationalise and explain them?
Tips: It’s best to start with reading literature about your key concepts. Adapt a
definition which is the most relevant to your study. We’ve provided a list of some
resources that offer a range of different concepts regarding social media that you
can draw on to kick-start your research:
sociology.hku.hk/social-media-concepts
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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3. Choosing your research method
After defining all the key concepts, you have to explain and justify the method(s)
you use to collect data. The researchers of the Why We Post project studied the
impact of social media by ethnography. They collect primary data and use both
quantitative and qualitative methods in their research. Find out why.
Definition:
Ethnography — the detailed study of a group of
people, usually involving the researcher living among
with the group over a significant period of time
Example of ethnography:
Social Media in Rural China (2016) is one of the eleven books to be written about
the Why We Post research.
This book comprises of a monograph reflecting on the fifteen months Tom spent
living in the rural town of Anshan, which has a population of around 31,000. Tom
prepared for his research by being fluent in the local language (Mandarin) and
making sure he understood customs and norms associated with daily life. He had
also spent some years living in cities in China before this. Since rural China is often
quite closed to foreigners, he had to get help from a university teacher in Beijing,
the capital of China who was able to introduce him to
people in the local Government in Anshan Town.
The aim of the research was not to see if social media has
a positive or negative effect on people’s lives but to see
what social media has become in each place, looking at
both local consequences and local people’s thoughts
about what role social media has in their lives.
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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Do you want to collect primary data or secondary data?
Secondary data: data already collected by
government, non-governmental organizations, think tanks or university researchers etc.
• Example: A student analyses the questionnaire results of the Why We Post project and writes on the impact of social media on privacy in China.
Primary data: data collected by researchers
themselves for specific purposes.
• Example: A student interviews a group of parents and write on the perceived impact of social media on parent-child relationships.
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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Secondary data:
Although secondary data are inexpensive and easily accessible, you may not find the
specific data you want, or it may be too general to really help answer your focus
questions. It’s a good idea to search through academic journals, government reports,
and research papers published by think tanks and non-governmental organizations
and newspapers to see if you can collect relevant and quality secondary data.
Tips: Useful websites for searching for secondary data
Academic journals: https://scholar.google.com.hk/
Legco papers: https://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/library/index.html
Research reports of Central Policy Unit: http://www.cpu.gov.hk/en/research_reports/archives/archives_all.html
Public Opinion Polls: https://www.hkupop.hku.hk/english/
Start searching for secondary data. Have you found anything useful to answer
your focus questions?
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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Primary data:
If secondary data is not available, you may need to collect primary data.
Questionnaires and in-depth interviews are the most common methods students use
to collect data for their IES.
Questionnaires are standardized set of questions with pre-set answers for
respondents to choose. Questionnaires produce quantitative data. Interviews are
non-standardized and open-ended questions for interviewers to discuss with
interviewees. Interviews produce qualitative data. Watch the video to learn the
strengths, weaknesses and data analytical skills of questionnaires and interviews
respectively.
https://sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media/v/methods
Questionnaire /
Quantitative data Interviews /
Qualitative data
Strengths
Weaknesses
Data
analytical
skills
required
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Do you think you can conduct an ethnographic study? Why?
Apart from strengths and weaknesses of each method, what else do you need to
consider when choosing the method for your IES?
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Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data
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To sum up…
Which methods would be most suitable for and why?
Who would you wish to research as your questionnaires respondents or interviewees?
Why?
What sorts of skills might you need?
How would you record and analyse your results?
What have you learnt from this activity about the challenges of researching the
impact of social media? How can you overcome those challenges?
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part C: In-depth Explanation of the Issue S-4 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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You will need to present your findings and discuss both positive and negative views
on the issue. Your analysis should be from multiple perspectives (e.g. perspectives
of different stakeholders, etc.) ALL focus questions you have asked in Part A have
to be answered in this part.
Quantitative data is generally represented in tables, charts and graphs. You will
need to label all the tables, charts and graphs in your IES properly. Analyse the
tables, charts and graphs and elaborate on the views reflected. Describe the data
to support your analysis.
An example of analysis of quantitative data
We then asked if people felt social media was good for education…. Here we can see how polarized views on the impact of social media on education are both across countries. Schools in Chile (60%), Rural China (50%), South India (66%), and Trinidad (62%) were very encouraging of social media usage as an educational tool, while schools in Italy (36%) and Turkey (38%) have the highest percentage of respondents seeing social media as bad for education.
S-4. Part C: What areas should I explain in detail for my enquiry issue?
I will complete S-4 Part C by…
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part C: In-depth Explanation of the Issue S-4 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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Qualitative data, by contrast, are not necessarily easily reduced to numbers. They
are related to people’s views and behaviour. To present qualitative data, you have
to provide rich description of both your own observations and also what your
interviewees tell you and your observations. You may quote your interviewees.
An example of analysis of qualitative data
In rural China parents placed great importance on their children’s education, believing that academic achievement would help their children’s education would help their children obtain a secure and comfortable life. In this context, social media was largely understood by parents, teachers and students as having a negative impact on educational progression and learning as the following quote from a rural Chinese teacher demonstrates:
I taught the third grade of middle school for a while. On one occasion, I confiscated five or six mobile phones. When they’re using phones they’re not doing anything else, just chatting on QQ, reading [online short stories] … In China, with this kind of education for the purpose of examinations, you must study; communication is put in a secondary position. Because each year there is just one chance in the exam. If you don’t pass the exam, you can only enter [manual] employment, and it will be a very bad environment, and you won’t have any good way out.
Students spent long hours in school each day. During the summer holidays they often attended expensive private tuition classes in the town. Parents wanted their children to reach university, but had little understanding of what skills students needed to do well in exams or what life inside university was actually like.
All of these constituted considerable restrictions, despite which students found ways to access social media. They made extensive use of ‘QQ Groups’, instant messaging groups whose membership often responded to their physical class groups. Apart from allowing for continued socializing with classmates outside of school time, students used QQ Groups to share homework answers and get help from other classmates. Asking for help from peers was especially important given that parents often lacked knowledge relevant to their homework and physically meeting with classmates outside school time was often difficult in this rural area.
- Adapted from “How the World Changed Social Media” Chapter 5 pp. 74-75; and “Desiring mobiles, desiring education: mobile phones and families in a rural Chinese Town” (in Mobile Communication and the Asian family:
transforming technologies, changing households), pp. 22.
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Part C: In-depth Explanation of the Issue S-4 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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Questions for planning the presentation of your research findings
How would you present the findings of your own research and why?
Do you have enough data to answer all the focus questions? What are your major
findings?
What have you learnt from this process about the challenges of understanding the
way people use social media?
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part D: Judgment and Justification S-5 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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1. What is an argument?
An argument is a claim supported by reasons and evidence. It takes a
stand on an issue and seeks to persuade an audience. Watch the video
to learn more.
https://sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-
media/v/argument
Exercise: Which of the following is an argument? Explain your choice.
Extract 1
Parents from the least economically developed field sites (Brazil, China, and the
rural component of our south India field site) . . . often expressed a general
frustration at the failings of local schools to equip students properly with the skills
and knowledge required for success in formal education, work and life more
generally.
- Adapted from “How the World Changed Social Media” Chapter 5 p.73
Is this an argument? Give reasons for your answer.
S-5. Part D: How do I formulate an argument?
I will complete S-5 Part D by…
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Part D: Judgment and Justification S-5 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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Extract 2
Although people often complain about social media as a threat to education, we
found that for some people social media does not detract from education – it is
education. Many of our field sites recognize that social media simultaneously
assists informal learning as well as being a distraction from formal education.
Often it mainly benefits low income families with poor prospects in formal
education. For example in Brazil, with limited access to formal schooling, many
people turn to social media, and particularly YouTube videos, as an important
source of education.
- Adapted from Why We Post Project Discovery 2
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/2-social-media-is-
education
Is this an argument? Give reasons for your answer.
2. How do I formulate a good argument?
A good argument is fair, unbiased, logical and evidence-based. To
formulate a good argument, you’ll need to evaluate (to weigh up) the
strength of supporting and opposing arguments of your issue and take
up a stance. One way to do this is to consider if an argument has more
strengths or weaknesses before you conclude about the overall
usefulness of an argument. In your writing, you’ll need to explain why
you disagree with opposing argument to justify your stance.
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Example
Statement of
argument Reasons Evidence
Supporting
argument Social media
has a
harmful
effect on
education
• Widespread public
opinion exists saying
social media is bad
for education
• Schools have taken
action against social
media
• Many teachers &
parents say that
social media distracts
students from
learning.
• Schools ban students
from using mobile
phones in class.
• Students were seen
playing on their
phones during class
time.
Opposing
argument
Social media
has a
positive
effect on
education
• Opinions differ in
different places.
While some people
understand
education as formal
education, others
define education as
informal learning
happening both
inside and outside
school.
• Statistical data
looking at exam
scores and phone
ownership does not
support the
argument
• In Brazil, people use
YouTube videos as an
important source of
education. In China,
migrant workers rely
on social media as
important source of
information and
practical knowledge.
• Students with mobile
phones do not have
worse exam scores
than those without.
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Which argument do you agree with, and why?
I think social media has a positive effect on education. Although public
opinion may say social media is bad for learning, just because many people
think it does not mean it is correct. School bans might be responding to this
opinion, rather than the evidence.
Looking at the relationship between owning a mobile phone and good exam
results is a more reliable way to find out whether or not social media has a
good result on education. Statistical analysis shows that students mobile
phones do not have worse exam scores than those without, reflecting that
social media is not bad for academic achievement at school.
On the other hand, social media is an important tool for learning outside
school. In Brazil and China, people gain information and practical knowledge
through social media, showing the positive effect of social media on education.
(Add detailed description of statistical data to support your reason)
(Add detailed description of quantitative or qualitative data to support your reason)
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Now it’s your turn. Create your own evaluation of an argument using the same
format below.
Statement of
argument Reasons Evidence
Supporting
argument
Opposing
argument
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Which argument do you agree with, and why?
3. How do I organize Part D?
You should organise Part D with the following section:
Introduction: what is your argument?
Main body: what are the reasons and evidence supporting your argument?
Main body: what are your counter-arguments? What are the reasons and evidence supporting them?
Main body: why do you disagree with the counter-arguments?
Conclusion
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Footnotes & Bibliography S-6 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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To avoid plagiarism, and get into good writing habits you will need to cite references
clearly when you use others’ work in your writing. You are not required to use any
specific citation style as long as you are consistent. Most students cite in footnotes. Footnotes are notes placed at the bottom of a page. Apart from citation, you can
add comments or information which is not directly relevant to the main text.
One example of this was the project on American teens’ new media use by Ito and her
colleagues.1 … This theme is taken up here, where social media is found to make a more
positive contribution if we consider learning more generally, rather than a narrow sense
of formal education.2
__________________________________________
1. Ito, M., Horst, H., Bittanti, M., boyd., Herr-Stephenson., B., Lange, P. G., Pascoe, C. J. and Robinson, L.
2008. Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project.
Cambirdge, MA: The MIT Press.
2. Anthropologists have frequently challenged this distinction between formal and informal learning. For
example see Borofsky, R. 1997. Making History: Pukapukan and Anthropological Constructions of
Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
At the end of the report, you have to compile a list of the sources you have used.
The list is called bibliography. You can categorize your sources then arrange them
according to alphabetical order.
Bibliography
Books
Adorno, T.W. 1991. ‘Free time.’ Bernstein J. M., ed. The Culture Industry: Selected
essays on mass culture. 162-70.
Akdenizli, B., ed. 2015. Digital transformation in Turkey: current perspectives in
communication studies. Maryland: Lexington Books.
Academic journals
Bargh, J.a., et. al. 2002. ‘Can You See the Real Me? Activation and Expression of the
“True Self” on the Internet.’ Journal of Social Issues 58(1): 33-48.
Chadwick, A. 2003. ‘Bringing E-Democracy Back In: Why it Matters for Future Research
on E-Governance.’ Social Science Computer Review 21(4):443-55.
S-6. Use of footnotes and compilation of bibliography
I will complete S-6 by…
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Learn different styles of citation here!
American Psychological Association (APA) Style
http//www.bibme.org/citation-guide/apa/
American Sociological Association (ASA) Style
http://lib.trinity.edu/research/citing/ASA_Style_Citations_4.pdf
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Sharing with UK students S-7 sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media
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Now that you have completed your IES, you have the opportunity to share your
findings and reflections with students in the UK who have been doing similar
research to yourself. This allows you to see the impact of social media in cross-
cultural settings. The idea is that you compare your ideas, in a similar way to how
the Why We Post research team compared their own findings from different
countries.
There are several ways that you can organise this:
1. A short video
2. A story board
3. A Prezi
Choose a method of expressing your findings from the list above, and post your
results onto the Hong Kong University website.
Ready to share your findings? Upload them at:
sociology.hku.hk/share-findings
About the UK
The UK is a country in Europe with a population of 65 million people. The UK is a
mainly English-speaking country with a high degree of development. The UK also
has a history of immigration, with many people from around the world choosing
to move to the UK in order to live there. As such, the UK is a relatively
multicultural country.
S-7. Share your IES findings with UK students!